Vilde Bøe Risa is a defensive midfielder who has been a part of the Norwegian senior national team since 2016. So far Risa has made 43 appearances for her country and has managed to score 2 goals. She joined Manchester United during the 2021 summer transfer window. Risa played in the Swedish top-flight, the Damallsvenskan, for two full seasons as she joined Kopparbergs/Göteborgs FC to play in the Damallsvenskan ahead of the 2019 season.
During her time in the Swedish top-flight Risa made 37 appearances in the league where she scored 5 goals and made 7 assists. She finished her time in Sweden by winning the Swedish league title in the 2020 season with Göteborg FC.
What kind of player is Vilde Bøe Risa? What are her skills and what does she provide to her team?
Since Risa joined the Red side of Manchester to play in the Women’s Super League, she has been used in Manchester United’s double pivot as a more defensive-minded midfielder. But lately, in what seems to have started to be Marc Skinner’s (head coach in Manchester United) preferred formation 4-2-3-1, Risa has taken on a lot more attacking-minded role as one of the three players behind the striker. Still, her profile fits a role as a flexible midfielder, that both can be able to carry the ball forward such as intercepting it to stop the opponents’ attacks.
Using the scouting tool Transfer Lab, we can watch her metrics in the Defensive midfielder - Box to Box player profile, her quality particularly lies in passing and distribution of the ball. As you can see, she is ranked in the 92nd percentile for her ball carrying in quality and in the 92nd for interceptions, and 96th on expected goals from open play compared to other midfielders operating as a box to box player in the Barclay’s Women’s Super League. This ranking is based on the current season.
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Risa has already established herself as a starting player in Norway’s national team and Norway’s head coach Martin Sjögren says Risa is a versatile and flexible tactical player that masters most profiles as a midfielder.
“Vilde is a player who is at her best when playing a six or an eight. She has a great ability to read the game and is always one step ahead when it comes to figuring out what the next step is going to be - in any given situation. She is great at passing the ball and has a great ability to control the tempo when it comes to the attack, specifically when it comes to building the game. She also has a pretty good shot, which she should use more often.
She is an individual with great ambition and she shows good leadership. Vilde is a player who is interesting to work with and who has a great development focus.
Joining Manchester United
Back in February 2021, it was reported that Risa was close to signing with Manchester United in the Women’s Super League which was later announced, in the summer ahead of the 2021/22 season.
United sit 3rd in the league table when this article is written with the main goal to secure a qualifying position for the Champions League next season. In United, Risa competes for a spot in the starting lineup against players such as Dutch international Jackie Groenen, the Red Devil’s captain and the Lionesses’ Katie Zelem and Wales international Hayley Ladd.
Since December 12th last year Risa has been starting for United and on that day she scored her first goal against Brighton, assisted by striker Alessia Russo after Risa had taken a deep run to enter the box in order to find the space that would give her the goal.